PnF: Timeloops
by Sols06
Summary: Ten-year-olds Phineas and Ferb go about their normal day, creating, inventing, and unknowingly bothering their sister. But when an unforeseen incident happens in the year 2014, they get a familiar visitor from six years in the future.  No pairings, no slash.
1. Chapter 1

PnF: Timeloops

**Chapter 1**

Phineas and Ferb leapt out of the brown station wagon after it had pulled up alongside the curb of the Googolplex Mall. They were shortly followed by Candace, who stepped out of the front seat with an annoyed look on her face.

"I don't understand why they have to come along, too," she complained while pointing her arm at the boys.

After a previous 'party mishap' when leaving the kids home alone, their father had offered to stay with them while their mom went to an out-of-town convention for the weekend. He found the best way to occupy them that Friday afternoon was dropping them off at the nearby mall.

"Oh, do try to have fun, Candace. And don't let your brothers bother you too much," he replied from behind the wheel.

"Uhg, but I have to go find that cute top before they sell out!" She glared at her brothers, who were staring through the sliding glass doors. "You heard him, you two. _Don't_ bug me."

"No problem, Candace, we're going to the food court!" Phineas replied happily. "We have this idea and-"

"Yeah yeah, just stay out of my hair," she interrupted, pushing past him.

Though the mall was a full four stories, Candace knew exactly where she was going. Just three days earlier she and Stacy spotted the most ADORABLE top in a store that had just closed when they arrived. Though today Stacy's mom had dragged her to some doctor's seminar and Candace was forced to shop alone, she was not going to miss her chance at buying it again.

Locating the store was not hard, and soon she was walking out of the shop doors and into the crowded central area with her prize in hand.

"Hmm, Phineas and Ferb have been awfully quiet," she wondered out loud. "What could they be up to..."

"You look stressed!" a nearby kiosk employee exclaimed with a bright smile. "Come try our new Restoration Cream, it relaxes and rejuvenates!"

"Relaxes _and_ rejuvenates?" Candace shot through the mass of people as fast as she could weave her way. "Give me some of that."

The kiosk employee pulled out her sample tube and Candace gave out her arm. Just as the cap had been unscrewed and the cream was inches from her wrist, Candace felt a black shoulder bag collide with the side of her head.

" 'scuse me... sorry," a mild voice said as it passed by through the surrounding crowd.

"Hey!" Candace exclaimed as she spun around. "Watch where you're go-"

It was then that Candace caught a glimpse of who had bumped her. He was a teen, probably about a year older than Candace herself, and was easily a few inches taller. The black bag was slung over his shoulder as he kept it close, meandering his way carefully to the far side of the floor. His purple slacks were neatly pressed, and the collar of his light blue sweater well folded.

But it was not his well-dressed appearance that had stopped Candace mid-sentence, or even his determination as he pushed past the crowd. It was his bright green hair and the large, square nose in the center of his face.

As quickly as he had come, Candace lost sight of him as the customers around her bustled about. She growled angrily to herself. "_Phineas,_ what are you creeps up to THIS time?"

Bursting into the food court with clenched fists, Candace screamed her brother's name. It was not hard to find him; there was some commotion in the table area. She located Phineas in the middle of it.

"All right, where is it?" she demanded.

"Where's what, Candace?" Phineas replied.

"The _age-changing _potion you guys made!"

"We didn't make a po-"

"Spray? Pill? Ray gun? Whatever it is, I am SO calling Mom!" Candace threatened as she squinted at him.

"Nah!" Phineas informed with a smile. "We're making Cotton Candy today!"

Phineas pointed up at the huge contraption that was situated behind him. It was made of metal with a large cylindrical bowl in the center, and took up most of the food court up to the ceiling. The bowl was painted elaborately with a large green and red "P & F" in the shape of lightning bolts.

"We have blueberry, strawberry AND lemon!" Phineas exclaimed in triumph. He turned and looked up at the top of the machine. "Let 'er rip, Ferb!" he yelled with one hand cupped beside his mouth, waving enthusiastically with the other.

Sure enough, Candace looked up to see Ferb sitting on an extended chair at the very top of the machine, loading white sticks into vertical graspers on a conveyor belt. Hearing the order, he gave a thumb's up and reached over to pull a giant, red lever.

The machine whirred as the belt dragged the sticks through the cottony substance, spinning them and returning them to ground level, where they stopped within an arm's easy reach. Children ran over to it and picked their favorite colors, stuffing them in their mouths with squeals of delight and joy.

Taking a blue one, Phineas passed it to his sister. "Here you go, Candace," he offered.

Candace swatted it away. "I'm not getting involved in one of your crazy schemes. _Ferb_ crashed into me down on the first level, so I know you guys are up to SOMETHING devious."

"Nope, just Cotton Candy today," Phineas repeated as Ferb lowered the chair to the ground and hopped off. He looked at Phineas and the back at Candace.

"Besides, Ferb's been up here with me all day. Right, Ferb?"

Ferb nodded.

Candace flung her arms in irritation. "But I _saw_ someone who looked just like Ferb! All grown up!"

"Candace, when have _we_ ever lied to you?" Phineas pulled his brother over and put his hand on his shoulder as the both stared at her.

Crossing her arms, she glowered at them in defeat. "Never. But I'm STILL calling Mom about this… this _thing."_

Phineas, Ferb, Candace and their father all sat eating breakfast the next morning. Candace was still slightly annoyed, as her phone conversation with their mother the previous night had gone as most of them did.

"Candace, they are allowed to eat cotton candy, they're kids."

"But it was all automated, with conveyor belts and everything!"

"Conveyor belts? _Really, _Candace?"

Her mother then told Candace to stop calling her while she was out of town, because that defeated the purpose of their father staying behind.

Phineas finished his mouthful of cereal and set his spoon on the edge of his bowl. "We're going back to the mall again today, Dad. Everyone liked out cotton candy so much, we said we'd make them a Giant Lollipop Dispenser!"

"Oh, sounds like fun," their dad replied over his newspaper. "Are the lollipops giant or is the dispenser giant?"

Silence fell over the table for a moment while Phineas thought. Then his face brightened up and there was almost an audible _ding_. "Both! Thanks, Dad!"

"Candace, go with your brothers and keep an eye on them for me, okay?"

"What!" Candace exclaimed. "Stacy's not back yet, I'll look like a dweeb at the mall alone!"

"I'm sure you'll find something to occupy yourself. Try hanging out with your brothers."

"Ugh, tie me up and feed me to a sewer gator," Candace mumbled as she placed her bowl in the sink.

After walking the short distance to the mall, Candace abandoned her brothers at the door.

"Maybe I'll find some peace from you two way up on the fourth floor," she commented, directing it purposefully at them.

"Okay, catch you later!" Phineas replied, unfazed.

Though Candace hated shopping alone, she did start to theorize which stores she would visit first and which ones might be having sales. However, in her fantasy, she did not notice that she had already reached the elevators and was about to miss the one that was leaving.

"Wait! Hold that elevator!" she shouted as she broke into a dash. An arm quickly shot out from between the closing doors, causing them to momentarily halt before they rolled back open. Candace slowed her run as she approached the now-stationary elevator car.

"Thaaaa…nks?" she panted, but her word ended with the high-pitch of surprise. She widened her eyes as she followed the arm to see its owner. Inside the car stood the very same green-haired teen who had ran into Candace the other day, standing with an equally shocked look on his face.

A bell startled Candace, and she had to force herself to edge into the elevator as the door attempted to close again. The boy seemed to come out of a trance and quickly dropped his arm to his side and turned away to awkwardly stare at the corner of the ceiling as the elevator started to move upwards.

Candace tried not to look at him, but he kept shooting her glances when he thought she would not notice. His feet were still but he shuffled them nervously, and he would not stop drumming his fingers against his black satchel and fidgeting with the taut strap around his shoulder.

Though Phineas had assured her that this was not him, Candace could not help but stare intently and awe at how much this teenager resembled her brother.

His eyes darted back and forth from the elevator wall to Candace herself, and when he realized that she had not dropped her focus, he stared back with sheer desperation. Sweat began to form over his brow, almost as if he was scared of her.

Candace raised an index finger with no intended purpose, although it seemed as though she might poke him to see if he was real.

"Fer-?"

The elevator dinged and a voice rang out. _Level 2._

With a rumble, the doors rolled open and in stepped a hefty man. He wore a dirty uniform, with a few paint splatters, and looked to be an employee of the mall. He smiled and nodded to acknowledge the elevator's two occupants. As the doors closed again, the man seemed to keep his eyes on the two teens.

"Ah, your girlfriend, eh?"

"Hmm?" the boy jumped, his eyebrows shooting straight up as he looked at the man in horror. Candace shifted away, as she was disturbed by the boy's expression. He looked absolutely terrified.

"You're doing a poor job of hiding it, mate. You're as red as a ripe tomato!"

The green-haired teen then took his fist and started jamming the button labeled _Level 3_ with the side of his knuckles. When the elevator dinged, he mumbled, "…this is mine," at his feet to no one in particular. He had slid through the doors before they had even opened halfway.

The mall employee stood in silence next to Candace for a moment before speaking. "You know him?"

Candace looked at the man but did not reply. Instead, she reached over to the button panel to select _Level 4_, but discovered that it was already lit up, even though the man beside her had not touched it. She peered inquisitively out of the elevator, and saw that the door leading to the stairs was gently closing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Are you sure you didn't make anything else yesterday?" Candace asked her brothers as they all licked their ice cream cones. After the commotion created by the lollipop dispenser had settled down, Phineas had made it a determined point to convince Candace to join them for a snack. Now the three of them sat at a little table beside the ice cream parlor, placed on the edge of the mall's central walkway.

"Just candy," Phineas said as he licked his chocolate cone. "What was it you thought we made, again?"

"I don't know… appearance-changer beam, cloning machine, age-changing potion, anything! I _swear_ I saw him!"

"Nope, but I like those! You got them, right Ferb?" Phineas looked over to his brother, who had already taken a pencil out from behind his ear and wrote something into a brown notebook. He looked up and nodded.

"Candace, there are 6.7 billion people on the planet," Ferb stated after he had placed his pencil back into his hair. "One of them is bound to look like me."

"Yeah, I guess..." Candace conceded.

But Phineas was not paying attention. He had elbowed his brother and was pointing down the hallway.

"Hey! No running!" a security officer yelled from the far end. He was quickly pursuing a figure that was sprinting down the hall with remarkable speed. Candace immediately recognized him by the shade of his hair.

Phineas and Ferb had both seen this, and only sat and observed when the teen skidded to a stop in front of them.

But he did not seem to notice where he had stopped or who was watching him. Instead, his eyes were looking up, and he seemed to be frantically scanning for something on the floor above.

He paid no heed to the mall cop following him, and took only a moment's pause before turning on his heels and running in the opposite direction.

The officer could not react in time, and slowly came to a stop in front of the ice cream shop. He put his hands on his thighs and sighed, muttering something about 'teenagers.'

"SEE!" Candace pestered. "Now TELL me that wasn't him!"

Phineas leaned a little bit out of his chair to peer over the barrier handrail. He looked at the busy corridor that was bustling with feet and at the carpeted hall.

"He was sure in a hurry," Phineas responded. "Look, he dropped something."

Candace and Ferb both looked at where Phineas had pointed. Sure enough, a leather folded wallet was sitting within view, going unnoticed by the passersby. No one spoke for about four seconds; they only watched the people walk past.

"Well?" Candace asked. "Aren't you going to go get it?"

"What!" Phineas exclaimed. "Candace, that's stealing!"

"No it's not, he DROPPED it," Candace complained with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, you're going to have to actually _pick it up_ in order to return it to him, riiiight?"

"Mmmm..." Phineas debated, but Ferb had already slid off his chair and walked to the edge of the barrier rail.

After peeking his head out from between the poles, Ferb rolled on his back skillfully through the mass of legs, picking up the leather object as he passed. He returned to the other side in the same manner and hopped back into his chair, while gently slipping the wallet onto the table in front of them.

Candace responded to both Phineas and Ferb's hesitation as all three of them only stared at the brown article. "Oh come on, it's just a wallet, it's not like there's a _soul_ in it or something."

She reached between her brothers' heads and flung the wallet open, leaving it lying at the clear plastic sleeve that held a Danville driver's license.

All three of them immediately looked at the smiling green-haired teenager in the photo. Then they began to read some of the text organized along the side.

Ferb Fletcher

_1102 Maple Drive_

_Danville, USA_

_D.O.B: 02-09-1998_

"Wait... you mean that really IS Ferb?" Candace blurted out disbelievingly. "So what in the world is he doing here if YOU guys aren't up to anything?"

"Look at that." Phineas pointed at the corner of the identification card and read it aloud. "Date issued: March 4th, 2014."

"Two thousand and _FOURTEEN! _He's from the future?"

"Cool!" Phineas proclaimed. "I wonder why he hasn't come and said hi to us yet? C'mon, Ferb, let's go find him!"

Phineas had snatched up the wallet and jumped excitedly off his chair, closely followed by Ferb, and both were now running to the exit of the enclosed eating area.

"Oh no, you are NOT starting something else today. Get back here, you little twerps!" Candace said as she, too, left her seat.

"He probably went up a level," Phineas observed once Candace had reached them. He did not waste a moment to lead them, running, to the closest escalator.

"Slow DOWN, Phineas, we can't keep up with you!" Candace fussed, she and Ferb struggling to race after him.

But Phineas could hardly hear them. He had already reached the top of the stairs and was running along the balcony that overlooked the floor below. He could see the many kiosks that were laid out in the hallway; he was searching the faces of all nearby customers for the one he sought.

Then his eyes fixed upon him; Phineas picked his bright green hair out of the crowd easily. He was not on Phineas' level as he had expected, but on the one below, and appeared to be waiting rather impatiently for the central elevator.

"Hey FERB!" Phineas yelled while waving both of his arms over his head.

The figure below looked both left and right upon hearing his name called, but did not see its origin. Instead, he turned and took off at a full sprint down the hallway again.

"Ferb, wait!" Phineas shouted as he started to run along the same path. Reaching another escalator, Phineas took the opportunity to descend a level as he fought to keep Ferb in his view.

Phineas tried to anticipate where Ferb's path would go next, and when he saw him attempt to turn onto an overpass, Phineas cut across a closer one in order to put himself in front, when Ferb turned the corner.

Ferb almost tripped over his feet as he scrambled to avoid running right over the kid who had suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hi, Ferb-" Phineas started, happy that he had finally caught him. But Ferb had never stopped moving. He had thrown his arms around to regain his balance, done a complete 180, and left Phineas to stare at his back as he now continued to run away, passing the onlooking customers.

"Ferb, come back!" Phineas called out to him, returning to the chase.

The hallway was straight for the most part, and Phineas was able to generally remain behind his target as they passed a few more shops. But as they approached a less-busy area and the crowd began to thin, Ferb stopped clear in his tracks and turned around to face Phineas.

Phineas slammed clean into him and was knocked off his feet. He found himself sitting on the carpet as he looked up at the tall character before him.

"Listen," Ferb spoke firmly. "I have no idea WHERE you got my name, but I swear I've never seen you before in my life."

Phineas did not get up off the floor. "It's me, Phineas...!"

Ferb ignored the shocked disbelief in Phineas' voice and only continued to stare down at him, the watch on his wrist beeping uncontrollably. He said one last sentence before dashing off again. "So stop following me."

People crowded around Phineas to ask if he was okay. He tried to look around them for Ferb, but discovered that he had lost sight of him through the circle of concerned adults.

"I'm... fine," Phineas told them, but he still refused to stand up. Candace and Ferb then appeared next to him, both out of breath from trying to keep up.

All eavesdroppers began to file away and continue on their business as Candace pulled Phineas to his feet.

"Well?" she panted. "Did you find him?"

Phineas looked at Ferb, who was standing next to Candace. He was waiting eagerly for the answer as well. But Phineas tried to blink the sadness out of his eyes.

"He said..." Phineas started, but finished the sentence in a whisper under his breath.

"Huh?" Candace questioned.

Phineas glanced up and looked at his sister. "He said he doesn't know me." He then moved his focus to Ferb. "He... he said he doesn't remember... who I am."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Ferb? Are you still awake?"

Ferb turned underneath his purple covers to better see his brother in the opposite bed. Sure enough, his eyes did not show a bit of tiredness.

"Good," Phineas replied. "I can't sleep either."

He turned and looked up at the ceiling for a while. He let out a long sigh, before turning his head again to his brother. "What's a future like where you've forgotten everything we've done together?"

Phineas tried to hide glossy eyes as he turned away. "You forget me?"

"Phineas..." Ferb consoled as he lifted the covers off of himself. He dropped to the floor and made his way over to the second bed. Phineas, too, pulled off his covers and dangled his feet over the side as Ferb came and sat beside him.

"I'll never forget you. You know that."

Phineas looked up from his feet. "Thanks," he said, giving Ferb a small smile.

The two teenagers leapt down the steps, skipping multiple ones at a time.

"Today's the day, Ferb! I can FEEL it!" Phineas celebrated as he led the way. "It's gonna work today, I know it!"

"You've been saying that every day this week, Phin," Ferb replied as they both reached the bottom.

"Yeah I know, but we just got the last parts for the photon coils last night, and they are sitting in the garage RIGHT NOW."

Though Phineas and Ferb's projects normally took only a day, even when they were older, this week they had been working on something very special. After much theorization and planning, the pair of inventors had finally built a functional prototype time machine.

Now this machine was unlike anything anyone had ever built, and was based around a quantum theory that Phineas and Ferb had formulated themselves. This theory surpassed even the ideas of Xavier Onassis, and if it worked, could provide timeloop-free travel.

Just yesterday they had perfected short-distance travel, and had blueprints for a long-distance add-on that included a photon coil, which they planned on building today.

Ferb dug his hands through the cardboard box and pulled out a copper wire. "Check."

"Bronze cylinder tubing?" Phineas read.

"Umm, check," Ferb answered as he found the said object.

Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford stood around them in the garage as they watched Phineas and Ferb begin to build the last piece of the machine.

"So what exactly is it supposed to do?" Baljeet asked as he watched Phineas wrap the wire around the tubing.

"The photon coils will allow the machine to travel longer distances, once we attach them," he answered, securing a second coil onto a metal-and-wood platform.

Ferb had out his laptop and was currently typing something in. "But first we have to see if they work," he added.

The finished box had two photon coils towering out of it, which made it look as though it had smokestacks. Phineas reached to its base and pushed a toggle switch.

The coils hummed with life as small bits of electricity began to hop between the threaded copper windings.

"Okay, let's attach it." Phineas said as he lifted his fingers underneath the box, but he hesitated for a second. "Wow, this is heavier that I expected," he commented.

Ferb lowered the lid of his laptop but did not latch it, and set it aside as he leaned forward. "Phin, be careful."

"Yeah..." Phineas started as he walked slowly towards the machine in the corner of the garage.

But then, as he tried to step over a cable, his fingers slipped. The box fell out of his hands, and the charged metal of the coils came into contact with the skin of his arm.

A blinding white light overtook the garage, and Ferb pulled his arms over his face. Baljeet, Buford, and Isabella dropped to their knees as they, too, shielded themselves.

When the silence had settled, Ferb peeked out from between his arms. All he could do was stare at the box sitting on the floor. Phineas was gone.

"Phineas!" he and Isabella both shrieked in unison. Isabella ran over to the spot Phineas had been standing and Ferb immediately grabbed for his laptop.

"No..." he mumbled as he began to frantically open files. "No, no, no, no, no... Please tell me that didn't just happen…."

"What happened? Ferb, what happened to Phineas?" Isabella pushed.

Ferb did not respond, concentrating on moving his fingers over the touchpad. He did not lift his eyes when he did speak. " Time... deleted him."

"DELETED!" Isabella screamed.

Baljeet reacted with shock as well. "Ferb, that thing _killed_ Phineas!"

"No..." Ferb responded as he pushed his laptop away and reached beneath he table. He did not seem to be paying attention to the thoughts of his friends; he was far too distracted by the thing he was looking for. He did, however, continue to explain. "Time destabilized around him... and caused it to delete him."

Ferb had grabbed a plastic case, set it on the table, and unlocked its latches. The case contained a series of clear tubes, capped on either end by a triangular chrome piece, and shimmering with a green liquid inside.

"What are THOSE?" Buford asked as everyone examined the object in Ferb's hands.

"Restabilization Cores," he illustrated as he spun the cylinder up to his eyes. "Phineas and I sort of... accidentally discovered the substance while testing one of our many theories. But we kept a couple just in case something bad happened-"

"Then what are you waiting for?" Buford pointed out impatiently. "Turn one on and bring Phineas back."

"It doesn't work like that, Buford," Ferb clarified as he breathed out slowly. Grabbing his school bag that was propped up against the table leg, he dumped it upside down. There was a loud thump as his textbooks and pencils fell out onto the floor.

"According to Phineas' and my theory, time is like a web," he said as he gently yet quickly placed the cores into the bag. "If you restabilize one point, it will just fall apart again. You instead have to restabilize the points connected to it."

The three teenagers merely looked at Ferb in confusion as he returned to his laptop. When it was clear that he was not going to elaborate, they all moved around him to see what he was doing on the computer's screen.

Ferb had opened the software that he and Phineas had programmed themselves. He held his cursor over the text fields.

"Let's see, today's June 23, 2014..." he said as he typed into the boxes. "And the machine overloaded at..." he leaned out of his chair and squinted at the clock on the machine. "...10:03am..."

He finished the last box and pressed enter on his keyboard. The program pulled up a map and tossed six pins onto the satellite photo of a building.

"Looks like they are all in the Googolplex Mall."

"Umm... why are they in there?" Baljeet asked, confused.

"Probably because there are so many people there, there's a lot of energy," Ferb guessed, pushing his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Plus the multiple levels gives the time points variation. All right, let me check the dates."

Ferb had swapped to a different page of the program, and re-entered the information. This time, it produced a set of text.

He read it aloud. "October 10, 11, and 12, 2008."

"Wait... so the points connected to today are in the Googolplex Mall... in... 2008?" Buford summarized with astonishment.

"Yep," Ferb said, standing up to slide his bookbag over his shoulder. He reached over and unplugged his watch from the USB cable attached to his computer, and wrapped the strap around his wrist. "The six points in time occur at exact moments throughout those three days, but I won't know exactly what minute or what room they are in until about five minutes beforehand. That's what my watch is f-"

"_Ferb_, you are not seriously considering USING that thing after what it did to Phineas, are you?" Isabella demanded, interrupting him.

"If I want to see my brother again, then yes," Ferb stated directly. "Besides, we already know that it works for short-distance."

"But Ferb, is _six years_ really 'short-distance'?" Baljeet brought up, thinking it through in his head. "You know, did you ever really establish what 'short-distance' actually is?"

"I'm not sure. I mean… time is really big," Ferb replied as he stepped onto the circular, blue-lighted platform. "But I have to go, _now. _ If I wait any longer I'll lose the linked window."

"Wait, hold up!" Buford said skeptically. "I've seen the movies. If people from the past see you won't time, like, explode?"

"I have no _time _to think about paradoxes right now, Buford!" Ferb said, annoyed. He had already pulled the lever that started to make the machine's lights flicker. "And it won't be a problem if I just avoid them."

Isabella stood far away from the whirring machine, but voiced her concern softly. "…what if you can't?"

Ferb placed both feet in the exact center of the platform. "Then I'll tell them I don't know them. Baljeet, hit the switch."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The sun had risen on Danville, and though it was already late in the morning Phineas still had not yet started his daily project. He and Ferb were sitting on the living room couch watching some television, however Phineas was only half paying attention. He had the brown leather wallet laying open beside him.

Phineas reached over to pick it up, and Ferb peered over his shoulder.

"Even though… you know," Phineas started. "…I still think we should give it back to him, don't you?"

Ferb straightened up and nodded.

"Do you think he'd still be at the mall?"

Ferb shrugged.

"Well, it's as good as place as any to start," Phineas concluded as he led the way confidently off the couch.

After their bikes had been locked up outside, Phineas and Ferb entered the sliding doors and walked into the busy mall. Almost immediately, a group of kids had spotted them.

"Hey, Phineas!" one of them shouted. "Are you planning anything big today?"

"Nope!" Phineas marched past. "We're on a mission!"

But even through Phineas' optimism, he and Ferb found that locating the owner of the wallet was far harder than they had anticipated. After hours of checking each shop, hallway, and elevator, the two were forced to retire on a cushioned central bench to re-think their strategy.

"Maybe he left?" Phineas suggested as they both continued to sit and watch the faces of the people walking past. "Wait, do you hear that?"

Listening closely, Phineas could hear a low sound over the ambiance of the mall. "Sounds like breathing."

"Or snoring," Ferb corrected.

The back of the raised platform behind the bench was decorated by a large plant, which blocked the other side from Phineas and Ferb's view. The seat that they sat on, however, curved around to circle the greenery.

The boys both looked at each other, before getting on their hands and knees and crawling along the length of the bench. They dropped back down to the floor once they had reached the other side.

Looking up, they found teenaged Ferb, who was napping quietly on the long plush seat. He had one and resting lightly on his chest and his other arm draped limply over his face. Underneath the overhang of the bench sat a zippered black bag.

Phineas pulled out the wallet that was stuffed in his back pocket. He held it with both hands for a moment, before reaching out with one hand and gently poking Ferb's shoulder.

"Ferb," Phineas whispered as he poked a little harder. "Ferb, wake up."

Ferb slowly lifted his arm and opened one eye only an inch.

"Oh, it's you," he said, repositioning himself so that he lay on his shoulder with his back facing them. "I told you I don't know you."

Phineas looked at the object in his fingers and then back at Ferb. "Not even him?"

Ferb peeked over his shoulder to see that Phineas was pointing to his brother standing next to him. He looked for only a moment. Turning away again, Ferb hoped that neither of them could see the regret in his eyes. "Nope."

"Oh..." Phineas responded dejectedly. "Well, we just wanted to give you this."

Phineas had pushed the wallet over Ferb's shoulder just enough for it to catch his eye. Ferb gradually reached his arm up to take it from him.

"So THAT'S how you got my name," he deduced, shifting ever so slightly to lie on his back. "Well, thanks. I was wondering where that went."

Ferb said nothing more, when suddenly the watch on his wrist began to emit a series of methodical beeps.

"Shoot!" he proclaimed, jumping upwards. "Shoot, shoot shoot."

He spread his fingers over his face as he rubbed frantically, trying to wake himself up. He then reached down and gathered up his bag with a quick movement of one hand, stuffing it under his arm.

"I gotta go," Ferb said in passing as he ran off.

"I wonder where he's going?" Phineas asked when he and Ferb had been left standing by the bench. He smiled with the hint of an idea. "Can't hurt to find out, can it?"

Ferb was very hard to follow. He kept turning into obscure places, only to turn around and leave them again. Both pursuing boys tried to remain out if his sight as they traced his path. They could still hear his watch beeping, although now it seemed to be growing faster, and slightly louder.

After a minute or two, Phineas spotted Ferb slip into the men's bathroom on the first level. Phineas stopped at the door.

"Um, why's he going in there?" Phineas asked, turning to Ferb. Ferb looked inquisitively at the door, turned back to his brother and shrugged. He then placed his hands on it and pushed through.

To their surprise, the bathroom was totally empty. Not a single stall was occupied and not a soul stood by the sinks. There was, however, a narrow ladder in the far corner that led up to a hatch in the ceiling.

Phineas and Ferb tossed each other encouraging glances, before reaching to the bars and climbing it.

The attic area looked as though it was meant for storage, as it had several rags and boxes strewn across it. Though it had been neglected, and dust now covered the dark ramparts.

Phineas and Ferb could still hear the incessant beeping, which was now so fast that it sounded like a single tone. They tried to stay hidden behind a pillar once their eyes met the sight in the center of the room.

Kneeling in the dirt was Ferb, with his hands in the black bag that he had set before him. Upon withdrawing them, he held the shimmering green core.

With one hand he circled his fingers around the clear plastic cylinder. With the other, he carefully twisted the triangular end piece.

A clicking sound was heard as a small opening in its base unlocked. Green mist seeped out of the little hole, and Ferb placed the device on the floor as fast as he could, yet still very mindful not to break it.

Leaping to the other side of the attic, Ferb crouched behind a support beam as the cloud began to rise and glow brightly.

But as he shielded himself from the light, his eyes met a most horrifying sight. Unknown to Ferb, his ten-year-old brother had followed him up the ladder, and now edged closely to examine the strange object.

"Phineas, no!" Ferb screamed at him. "GET BACK!"

Though Phineas was no longer moving forward, his curiosity held him in place. Ferb desperately pointed at the younger Ferb, who was still hiding near Phineas with his back against the pillar. "Ferb, grab him!"

Ferb peered around the pillar and, with a slight panic in his eyes, nodded obediently.

He reached around the post and stretched out to try to grasp the bottom of his brother's T-shirt. But he did not dare leave the safety of the barrier, and though he leaned as far as he could, Phineas was just out of reach.

From his position on the other side of the room, Ferb could see that the attempts by his younger self were going unfruitful. Bracing himself, Ferb held his breath as he prepared to bear the bright light of the mist. Without hesitating, he skipped from the sanctuary of the support beam to the shadowy spot behind the next. He judged the distance to the one beside him, before leaping again.

Now Ferb was crouching with his shoulder leaning against the beam that separated himself from Phineas.

"Phineas!" Ferb scolded, launching his long left arm around the post and snatching Phineas unheedingly by the collar of his shirt. He pulled him behind the beam and sheltered both arms securely overtop of him. Both of them shut their eyes tightly as the misty green glow became whiter and whiter, until it almost pierced through their eyelids.

But then it dissipated. Ferb had to blink to adjust to the sudden change in lighting. He looked down to see that Phineas was looking around as well.

Ferb picked up Phineas and set him down on his feet. He then put his hands on the dusty floor and pushed himself up from his sitting position. Phineas was staring at him delightedly, as if anticipating an answer. Instead, Ferb only pushed past him and retrieved his bag.

"I told you not to follow me," he said, barely making eye contact with Phineas as he brushed past him and lowered his way down the metal ladder.

Phineas stood still for a moment, before Ferb ran up to him.

"Phineas! Are you okay?"

"Did you SEE that?" Phineas said, riled up with excitement. "What _was_ it?"

He and Ferb then looked with interest to the dirty wooden floor behind them, where the empty plastic canister lay.

After he had dropped off the last rung of the ladder, Ferb briskly exited through the door and left the empty bathroom behind him. He couldn't bear lying to Phineas like that, and the further away he was, the easier it was for him to forget about it.

Approaching the center of the mall, Ferb slowed, deciding it was far enough. He leaned against a concrete wall and placed his head in his hands; this undertaking was harder than he had expected.

Ferb lifted his head quickly and looked at his wrist; his watch had begun its slow, metronomic blips.

_Again?_ Ferb thought in confusion. _ I just did one._

The larger digital display on his watch currently read 4:32pm. However, the smaller one in the corner-now flashing red-read 4:37pm.

Ferb pushed his foot off the wall and started towards the escalator. He reached the second floor and began the painstaking search for anything that might be a janitor's closet, storage room or secluded area. But after scavenging most of the second level, he discovered that the frequency of his watch's soundings had remained the same.

Ferb checked the time. 4:34. He groaned in frustration and gave up on the second floor and moved to the third.

Though the noise emanating from his wrist grew slightly faster as he ran up the moving steps, it did not change a bit as he sprinted by the shops that lined the hallway. He kept running as fast as he could as he took a haphazard glance at his watch. 4:35.

_There should at least be some variation_, Ferb thought helplessly as he ignored the gazes of the milling customers. _ Unless... The roof._

He took off even faster as he aimed for the central elevator shafts, where he could find the stairway leading upwards. He pushed through the plain beige door and glided over the stairs, going clear past the door labeled Level 4. If he was right, the roof was high enough that his watch would not pick up the location of the time point as well as it should have.

Ferb pushed his back against the metal bar of the door as he opened it, drawing his arm up to his face. It had just turned to 4:36. Sure enough, the device had increased the speed of its soundings until it now rang out with a static shriek.

Sun shone out onto the roof as Ferb pulled his bag off of his arm and unzippered it lengthwise. Using both hands, he spread it open; lying at the bottom of the bag's fabric base was a single Restabilization Core.

Grasping it in his hands, Ferb looked back to his watch. The time read 4:37, and the flashing red box outlining the corner display, also reading 4:37, had turned to a solid dark green.

Turning the pointed chrome cap, Ferb let the mist leak out of the container. He set it on the rocky and unkempt surface, before moving to a position behind a raised metal air vent.

Ferb could feel his heart pumping in his chest as he anticipated what would happen next. He kept his eyes shut as the bright light surrounded him on all sides.

Ferb thought for a moment that something _had_ happened. He could not hear anything, and could only see a red glow through his eyes. But as he felt a breeze blow through his hair, he looked up, to the left and to the right. He was still sitting on the roof of the mall and sun still shone above.

Crouching around the vent, Ferb looked with dismay at the expired core sitting near a pile of leaves.

He slumped himself down onto the hard concrete. That had been the sixth core, which _should_ have repaired the moment in time that Phineas disappeared. Ferb had thought that he would see something, hear something-even a whisper in the wind-that would reassure him of his brother's whereabouts.

"Oh, Phineas. Wherever you are, please be okay."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The cloudless Sunday night provided for perfect stargazing as Phineas and Ferb walked their bikes through the park. They had promised their dad that they would be back home by 8pm and had stayed at the mall until about 7.

It was a cold night, and the first snowfall was due in less than a month. Phineas and Ferb had their noses pointed up as they walked, and Phineas was pointing out all the planets and constellations.

"...and that's right where Kermillian's Comet will pass by in 88 1/2 years."

Ferb nodded in interest; even though none of this was new information to him, he and Phineas were still enjoying themselves. But what Ferb saw when he looked down made him poke Phineas' shoulder and point forward.

Sitting on the park bench was the older Ferb, with his arms wrapped around his knees, pressed up against his chest. A light sweatshirt was draped overtop of him like a blanket. He, too, had his eyes pitched straight up, gazing at the stars.

Phineas looked for a moment, before turning back. "Do you really think he doesn't remember us?"

Ferb gave a light, sad shrug.

"I hope he won't get mad at us if we bother him again," Phineas commented.

"I don't think I would," Ferb encouraged after a moment.

Phineas led the way through the chilly air. When they approached, Ferb did not seem to realize that he had company. He was intent on staring at the stars, just as Phineas had been. It was then Phineas noticed that Ferb's nose and cheeks were red, and he was shivering underneath his makeshift blanket.

Phineas and Ferb both hopped onto the park bench, with Phineas sitting in the middle. Ferb, still staring up, looked down in surprise. But, when he saw who it was that had joined him, he brightened up and smiled kindly. "Heya Phineas."

"Ferb?" Phineas leaned forward a bit. "You remember?"

"...Of course I remember," Ferb replied, before sighing. "I suppose there's no point in pretending anymore. Besides, I should've known better than to think I could trick you two."

"You... you still know me?" Phineas asked tentatively.

"Know you?" Ferb answered, reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out his wallet, slid a piece of paper from one of the card slots, and handed it to Phineas.

Phineas took it and looked. It was a photo of two teenagers, one of whom was Ferb. He was grinning and giving a thumb's up with one hand, and the other he had wrapped around the shoulders of the second teen. This one had fire truck-red hair and an iconic triangular head. He was waving and smiling even bigger than his brother was.

"You're my brother, Phineas. I'd never forget you."

"Good!" Phineas finished and turned around to hug, not the Ferb he was talking to, but the one sitting behind him on the bench. Though he was startled, he hugged right back.

After the photo had been returned, Ferb took his hands out from beneath his sweatshirt so he could place the paper back in his wallet. Phineas watched him do this, and saw that his hands were shaking. He seemed to be having trouble opening the little leather slots with his red fingertips.

Once his wallet had been safely tucked away again, Ferb dug his arms under the sweatshirt and wrapped them once more around his knees. He squeezed them tighter to himself and closed his eyes, almost as if he was relishing the momentary warmth.

"Are you okay?" Phineas asked, poking him in the upper arm.

Ferb, who had begun to stare tiredly into the distance, turned back to Phineas as if he had not realized that he was being addressed.

"I'm f-f-fine," he replied, though his teeth had begun to chatter. He tried to resist showing it, but that only made him release a harsh shudder.

"No you're not," Phineas contradicted. He leaned around Ferb and noticed the way he had propped his bag against the bench's armrest, and the manner that his shirt was laying on top of him.

He let out a soft gasp. "Ferb! You weren't thinking about _sleeping_ out here, were you?"

"Well, I've been sleeping in the mall," Ferb said drowsily as he sniffled and repositioned his sweatshirt to better fit over his shoulders. "But security finally found my spot and kicked me out. And I only have $64 on me, which I kind of need for food…"

Ferb trailed off. He was clearly overly tired, and did not notice that he was rambling on unnecessarily.

"Why don't you come sleep at our house?"

"What? No I can't do that," Ferb denied. He was now speaking noticeably slower than when Phineas had first sat on the bench. "That's your guys' house. I don't belong there."

"Sure you do!" Phineas argued. "It's your house too!"

Ferb placed his cheek on his palm as his eyes drifted closed. "I suppose it would be nicer than right here," he admitted, fighting to keep himself up as Phineas pulled his arm to encourage him off the bench.

"_FERB?"_

Ferb shot awake and pulled the covers up to his nose in a reflex to hearing the voice screech his name. He searched around frantically as the blurriness faded from his eyes and he focused to see the source of the scream. He looked down to his feet and saw Candace standing at the end of the couch where Ferb had crashed the previous night. They both just stared at each other.

"What are you _doing_ here?"

"Phineas invited me!" he answered quickly. He did not know why he was so jumpy all of the sudden, but he replied with the first thing that entered his mind. It seemed to satisfy Candace, at least for the moment. Now she just stood there with her hands on the couch's armrest.

The grandfather clock in the corner of the far room then caught Ferb's attention. He had to do a double take and make sure the clock had not stopped before believing what the face read. He had slept in until _two pm._

Ferb moved to lie on his shoulder. He normally woke up at 7am with Phineas to start another one of their crazy projects. Now, he had not seen Phineas in four days. He was not there to throw a pillow at Ferb's face and interrupt his sleep; Ferb did not even know if Phineas was alive.

But Candace was not through staring at Ferb and examining him from head to toe.

"Dad said he thought he saw someone sleeping on our couch this morning," she said distractedly. "But I didn't believe him. Are you really from the future?"

"Yes…." Ferb said defensively.

"I bet I'm 21 there, huh?" she began. "Have I married Jeremy yet?"

"Candace…."

"I'm probably engaged. We've been boyfriend and girlfriend officially for more than three months now."

"Candace," Ferb said a little louder. Candace seemed to have forgotten that Ferb was there. She was talking to him as if he was merely an object that could give her fortune.

"…and then we are gonna have kids and name them Xavier and Amanda…"

Ferb pulled the covers off of himself and stood up in front of her. "_Candace."_

Candace immediately ceased talking and shrunk down a bit. She was definitely not expecting her little brother to tower a full four inches over her. She let out a little 'meap.'

"I just woke up," Ferb said, rubbing his eyes. "And I'm tired."

Candace relaxed slightly once Ferb had sat back down onto the couch. He yawned and stretched. "Where are Phineas and Ferb?"

"Yeah…. Where _are_ they?" Candace replied, running towards the back door.

Ferb thought about following her, but he ended up staying on the couch. He saw no reason to get up, and it felt horrible. He missed Phineas dragging him off with a new idea, and he missed sitting for hours on end in their backyard working on a contraption.

The sliding back door cast a bright sunbeam on the carpet, and Ferb decided that he would sit in the nearby chair. He propped up his feet and stared out the window.

"Ooh, they are SO busted!" Candace was saying as she stomped through the door and into the house, not paying a bit of attention to Ferb.

Candace was responding to the giant metal object sitting in their backyard. It had a few pneumonic arms sticking out of it, and appeared to be some kind of a carnival ride. Phineas was sitting in the grass with the blueprints sprawled out in front of him, and Ferb sat on one of the machine's arms, wearing his welder's mask.

As he sat on the lounge chair with his fingers crossed on his lap, Ferb wondered why he had to be stuck inside on a beautiful day like this.

"Hey Ferb! You woke up!" Phineas hollered as he waved energetically from his spot in the yard. "Why are you sitting in there?"

Ferb chose to stay silent. He just stuck his chin in his hands and kept watching.

But Phineas was insistent. "Don't you want to help?"

At this, Ferb straightened up in the chair. "Well yes… yes, I do." He paused for a second. "…Can I?"

"Why not?"

"I dunno," Ferb tried to support his thoughts. "I mean you guys are… I don't want to intrude."

"We don't mind! Right, Ferb?" Phineas looked up at his brother, who had unhinged his welder's mask. He shook his head and beckoned with a welcoming motion of his hand.

"Alright," Ferb responded, getting up from his seat. "Let me see those blueprints."

An hour passed, and by then they were just putting on finishing touches. There was, however, a problematic misshaped cogwheel in the central shaft, that Ferb had volunteered to work on. Being taller than the other two, jumping into the shaft was easy for him. He now sat beneath the machine, his head and hands stuck inside it and just his legs visible dangling below.

Phineas was sitting in the hinge of one of the device's arms applying a last touch of oil, and Ferb was working on the wiring of the ride's control panel.

"Hello, boys," came a voice from the driveway. Their father was walking around from the car in front. "I saw the most peculiar thing this morning, I wonder if you know anything about- Oh, my, that's impressive."

Upon walking through the brown picket gate and seeing the boy's creation, their dad stood open-mouthed. "Wow… so this is what you two have been doing today?"

Phineas hopped down from his perch and landed on the grass. "There's three of us, Dad!"

Their dad had spotted the feet hanging out from below the metal base. "Ah, I thought I saw someone on our couch this morning. We haven't had a guest in a while, who's your friend?"

Ferb, who could not hear anything from the acoustics of the enclosed base, did not realize that his father had walked up to where he was sitting. He then felt a click beneath his palms.

"Aha!" he said in triumph. He leaned and tilted his head sideways as he grabbed onto a metal bar and hung partially upside-down out of the machine. "Phineas, I got the cog-"

He stopped when he met face-to-face with the man who was standing beside his feet.

"-wheel," he finished in shock.

"That's Ferb from the future!" Phineas explained, also appearing beneath the machine.

"Um, hello Father," was all Ferb could say.

Their dad did not say anything for a while and just looked at the upside-down face popping out of the central shaft. Then he chuckled.

"_Time travel._ You boys will never cease to amaze me; did you call your mum?"

"Yep!" Phineas answered. "Candace said she would call and tell her."

"Well, as long as it's okay with her, I don't see why we can't have some company. How about taking a break for an early supper?"

After their father warmed up a few plates of leftover lasagna, the five of them sat around the kitchen table.

Phineas was telling everyone about the ride they had just built, and how fun it will be when all the neighborhood kids come over later to test it out. When he was through, he digressed.

"So Ferb! Where am I? I bet I would love to go time traveling!"

"Oh..." Ferb answered, trying to dodge the question. He had hoped that this would not come up, because he honestly did not know how to answer it. "Well that's kind of why I came..."

Ferb would have preferred to leave it at that, but everyone, Candace included, was waiting curiously for him to continue. He just looked down at his plate and twirled his fork through the spaghetti sauce. "There was a little time mishap."

"You BROKE TIME?" Candace reacted. "And I thought MY brothers were bad!"

"No, it was more like a hiccup," Ferb corrected unenthusiastically.

No one could think of a reply for a second, until Ferb spoke up from the end of the table. "Somebody ought to fix that."

"Well I did... I think," Ferb said has he switched his fork to his other hand, still twisting it mindlessly. "I did what I was supposed to, but time doesn't seem any more fixed than it did three days ago. I just hope it worked …and I left in such a hurry that I never really considered how I was going to get back."

Phineas quickly swallowed his mouthful of lasagna as Ferb said this. "You're stuck here?"

"Guess so."

"Well, that's no problem!" Phineas said, leaping onto his chair. "Let's go use the time machine at the museum!"

"Na, Phin, I thought of that," Ferb dismissed, putting his elbow on the table and leaning on his hand. He was still staring at his untouched food. "That machine uses one-dimensional travel, so you travel within the same dimension, which is why it causes problematic timeloops. The one Phineas and I invented uses interdimensional travel, like you hop to a different dimension where the time you are trying to go is the present. So changing the past doesn't do anything to the dimension that you came from, because in the new dimension the past is the present and it's future hasn't come yet. Some dimensions are parallel and linked and some are not…. Anyway if I took the machine here I would end up in this dimension's future and not in my own univer-"

"Just STOP it, okay?" Candace groaned as she rubbed her head. "Not the _whole_ table is full of geniuses."

Ferb placed his fork on his plate as he pushed it away and stood up. "You know I'm not really all that hungry …I'll be upstairs."

Ferb left everyone sitting at the kitchen table, went up to his and Phineas' room, and sat on his bed-though it wasn't _really_ his bed. He had a view to the backyard from the window, and within a couple minutes he spotted Phineas and Ferb return to work on their creation. It was pretty much done, and soon the neighborhood kids would flock over and all give it a test run. Ferb kind of wanted to go down and join them, but he had told Phineas that he would not be partaking in the finished project. He had used the excuse that the weight ratio was not meant for a sixteen-year-old.

Of course Phineas would have none of it, and had offered to tweak the torque of one of the supports so that Ferb could have some fun too. But Ferb had other reasons for sitting out; he didn't want to have to explain the whole thing to every kid on the block, and especially not to Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford. Besides, he knew more than anyone that Phineas was more than capable-and more than likely-to fill them in on the details.

The past few days had occupied his attention so intently, Ferb felt as though he wasn't himself anymore. Now that he had time to sit on a bed and stare out a window, he realized how homesick he really was, even though he was sitting in his own home. Ferb longed to see his brother again; if he were here, he would be able to cheer him up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Night fell and forced all the kids to return to their homes, as they mumbled with disappointment. No one knew what happened to the ride after that, but it didn't bother them. After all, they were finished with it anyway.

Ferb finally came back downstairs once he heard the back door slide open. He saw that Phineas had settled down on the couch. He came over and sat beside him.

"I'm sorry, Phineas."

"Huh? For what?" Phineas asked in confusion.

"For being so rude to you the other day. And for pretending I didn't know you, and for acting so apathetic with you when you were being nothing but curious…."

"It's okay," Phineas interrupted. "I forgive you."

Ferb smiled at Phineas' understanding. "It's just, time travel is dangerous. And I wanted to leave you all out of its risks as much as I could. I've messed time up enough as it is."

Phineas looked down shamefully. "I… I hope you don't mind… that I opened your wallet."

But Ferb just chuckled. "By then you knew it was me anyway. And you could have tipped it upside-down and counted all the cards. I wouldn't have minded."

Phineas looked up in shock as if Ferb had just suggested the unthinkable. "But it's your _wallet!"_

"Hah, Phineas, you're too nice for your own good," Ferb said as he patted him on the back. "But that's why everyone likes you."

"Daaaaaaad?" Candace hollered from the front room. Ferb and Phineas both looked over to see that she was staring out the front window, with Ferb beside her staring out into the darkness as well.

"Yes, Candace?" their dad called from the kitchen.

"There's some guy standing on our front lawn."

"Who is it?" his voice shouted from the other room.

"I dunno, it's dark and he has a hood over his head," she replied as she squinted through the glass.

Coming in with his hands in a rag, their dad approached the front window as well. "You're right. He's just standing there."

"He's been there for, like, twenty minutes," Candace commented. "Do you think we should call the cops?"

Their dad tossed the rag into the nearby laundry basket and put his forehead on the window with his hands cupped around. "He doesn't _look _like a burglar."

Curiosity finally overtook Phineas and he succumbed, jumping off the couch and joining his family by the window.

"Huh," he said when he reached them. "He kinda looks familiar."

Ferb had been left alone in the other room, and finally gave in. He moved over to see what the commotion was about, and stood back a little ways to peer over the shoulders of the four other observers.

His heart leapt into his throat and skipped a beat. He whispered a word that went inaudible by the others. "…Phineas….?

"Hmm?" they all said as they turned around to look at Ferb. But he was still staring intently with wide, disbelieving eyes at the figure in the yard.

"THAT'S PHINEAS!" he screamed as he collided with the front door, trying frantically to open it as quickly as he could. He almost tripped over the concrete sidewalk as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards his brother. As soon as he was within reach, Ferb wrapped his arms around him and squeezed just hard enough that he would not break his spine.

"Phineas! I thought you might be gone for good!" Ferb said as he release his grip just slightly.

"I came back! Somehow…" Phineas replied as he returned the hug. "When I did, I didn't even know I had been gone. At least until I realized there was no one else in the garage, and Mom and Dad came out yelling, saying I had been gone for _four days._"

"Oh, Phineas, I'm sorry. I should have told them something before I left, they must've been worried sick."

"You had _me_ worried sick! When they told me that YOU had been gone for four days too, they had assumed you were with me-wherever I was. I told them you weren't, and… and… nobody knew where you were." Phineas backed away again, but both he and Ferb kept their hands on each other's shoulders.

"Nobody? Didn't Baljeet tell you?" Ferb said with guilt and concern in his voice as he tried to keep his eyes from turning glossy.

"Well yeah, that's when I called him thinking maybe one of our friends knew. Then he… then he told me what you did." Phineas couldn't stop himself from leaning forward and hugging him again. "Thank you, Ferb."

"I'm glad to have done it," Ferb said breathlessly. "I couldn't just leave you… wherever you were."

"And _I_ couldn't just leave _you_ stuck here," he replied. "Which is why I went STRAIGHT to work and made this." Phineas held up a yellow box with a few buttons, dials, and wires sticking out of it.

"What's that?" Ferb inquired as he looked at it.

"A recall remote."

"A _recall remote. _ Phineas, you're a lifesaver. Have I told you you're a genius?"

Candace, their dad, as well as Phineas and Ferb exited the house and had been on the front steps as they watched the scene before them. Eventually, Phineas couldn't keep quiet.

"Hi, Phineas!" he called out as he ran over to the two of them.

"Hey, Phineas!" Phineas replied, reaching down as they high-fived each other.

"We had a blast with Ferb today," Phineas announced. "Are you going to stay with us, too?"

The two teenagers gave each other a glance. "I think we really should be getting home," Ferb explained, but Candace had run into the house.

"Oh, no you don't," she said once she had come back out, flinging a little digital camera in her hand. "Not until I've got _photographic evidence_."

Phineas turned back with an excited look. "Oh, can we? That would be so cool!"

Ferb rolled his eyes, and looked at his brother. He had the exact same look that the younger Phineas had. "C'mon, Ferb, remember how _awesome_ that would've been when we were 10?"

"Heh, I guess it wouldn't hurt," Ferb grinned, as Candace gathered them all around. The four of them waved and smiled brightly as the camera's flash went off, and immediately Phineas and Ferb ran over to Candace to see how the picture turned out. Satisfied, Phineas looked up to say goodbye, but discovered that the driveway had been left strangely empty.

* * *

><p><strong>Liked this story? Don't forget to post a Review!<strong>

**All My PnF Fanfics:**

**PnF: Timeloops (Viewing)**

**PnF: Ghosts**

**PnF: Stolen Identity**

**PnF: Stuck Like Brothers**

**PnF: Mind Trapped **

**PnF: Species is a Constant**

**PnF: Lifeleap (Currently Posting)**


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